Leeds-Liverpool Canal Link at the Pier Head - geograph

The Liverpool Canal Link is an English waterway link that connects the

Leeds and Liverpool Canal The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of , crossing the Pennines, and including 91 locks on the main line. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal has several small branc ...

, at the

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Pier Head, to the city's South Docks. It cost £22m and was opened in March 2009. The new link adds of navigable waterway to the canal system.

History

It was intended that the

would be linked to the docks in

. It was only in 1846, 30 years after the canal's completion, that the canal was directly linked to the docks via the Stanley Dock Branch. Georges Dock was filled in at the beginning of the 20th century to allow the building of the Liver Building,

Cunard Building The Cunard Building is a Grade II* listed building in Liverpool, England. It is located at the Pier Head and along with the neighbouring Royal Liver Building and Port of Liverpool Building is one of Liverpool's ''Three Graces'', which line the ...

and the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board Building, now known as "the Three Graces". This meant the North and South Docks were no longer directly linked. Boats wishing to travel from the North Docks to the South Docks had to go via the

River Mersey The River Mersey () is a major river in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it h ...

Planning

By 2000 there were several new canal projects such as the renovation of the

Huddersfield Narrow Canal The Huddersfield Narrow Canal is an Navigability, inland waterway in northern England. It runs just under from Lock 1E at the rear of the University of Huddersfield campus, near Aspley, West Yorkshire, Aspley Basin in Huddersfield, to the ju ...

, the Ribble Link and

Rochdale Canal The Rochdale Canal is in Northern England, between Manchester and Sowerby Bridge, part of the connected system of the canals of Great Britain. Its name refers to the town of Rochdale through which it passes. The Rochdale is a broad canal be ...

. The Waterways Regeneration Task Force, part of British Waterways, took over the South Docks from English Partnerships. The Task Force approached the

Liverpool City Council Liverpool City Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the City status in the United Kingdom, city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. Liverpool has had a local authority since 1207, which has been reformed on numerous ...

's Liverpool City Vision with the suggestion of linking the

to the South Docks by building a new waterway across Pier Head. Four routes were proposed and after public consultation in 2001 a route was chosen. The winning route was across the front of the Three Graces at the Pier Head. Feasibility work was funded by the North West Regional Development Agency, British Waterways Regeneration Task Force and a detailed proposal drawn up during 2003. Funding for the work came from the NWRDA, (50%) with the rest coming from Europe via the ERDF Objective 1 programme. The original estimate was £17 million. After some changes to the plans following the failed Fourth Grace project and objections by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

a new plan was drawn up by March 2005 which took account of the new Museum of Liverpool. Planning permission was applied for in August 2005 and granted in early 2006.

Route

The chosen route includes two new locks, open channels, tunnels and culverts. Two new highway bridges were built, as well as flow control structures and utility diversions. The docks between Salisbury Dock and Prince's Half-Tide Dock were filled in with just a small drainage channel remaining. Following dredging in the 1990s, this section was in water and navigable. Further dredging took place at the northern edge of the Trafalgar Dock infill. Between Trafalgar Dock and the Prince's Half-Tide Dock a -wide channel through Trafalgar Dock and the northern end of West Waterloo Dock was built, with a new crossing at the dock passage between Trafalgar and West Waterloo Dock. The channel from West Waterloo Dock to Prince's Dock was dredged and the level of the docks reduced. From the northern end of Prince's Dock through to the start of the Pier Head area a new fixed bridge and lock was built at Prince's Dock. Prince's Dock Footbridge was raised to allow boats to pass underneath and the bridge approaches have been landscaped. A new culvert across land known as Plot 7 was built along with another new culvert beneath St. Nicholas Place and the cruise liner facility. The final section of the canal link commences south of the Floating Roadway Basin, crosses the Pier Head and terminates at Canning Dock. of new canal was built along with associated bridge crossings and a lock structure. A new basin was built at

Mann Island Mann Island is a small area in Liverpool, England. It lies on the waterfront next to the River Mersey between the Albert Dock to the south and the Pier Head to the north. History Mann Island was formed in the 18th and 19th centuries as pa ...

along with extensive landscaping for the general public.

Construction

In 2007, during the construction of the canal link, the sites of Chester Basin and Manchester Dock were excavated. The excavation revealed various carved stones in the area of Chester Basin, which were identified as being from the Liverpool Town Hall of 1673. The excavation was shown in a '' Time Team Special'', broadcast on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

on Monday 21 April 2008. The canal link was completed in December 2008 with the Pier Head section finished earlier in September. After a period of testing and commissioning the canal link opened on 25 March 2009.

Images

Northern portal of St Nicholas Tunnel.jpg, Northern portal of St Nicholas tunnel in Princes Dock Liver Basin towards Cunard Tunnel 1.jpg, Liver Basin towards Cunard Tunnel; Museum Basin lies beyond Museum Basin towards Museum Tunnel.jpg, Museum Basin towards Museum Tunnel Mann Island lock.jpg, Mann Island lock, the exit from the canal into Canning Dock Southern portal, Museum Tunnel 1.jpg, Museum Tunnel from Mann Island Basin Museum Basin towards Cunard Tunnel.jpg, From Museum tunnel into Museum Basin and towards Cunard Tunnel Southern portal of Cunard Tunnel 1.jpg, Southern portal of Cunard Tunnel, from the west bank Liver Basin towards St Nicholas Tunnel.jpg, Liver Basin towards St Nicholas Tunnel Southern portal of St Nicholas Tunnel.jpg, The southern portal of St Nicholas Tunnel; the link veers to the north under St Nicholas Place here Lock to Canal Link in Princes Dock.jpg, Entry into Princes Dock is via this lock

References

External links

*
Pennine Waterways, includes virtual tour of Canal Link

{{Liverpool City Centre Canals in England Canals in Merseyside Canals in Liverpool Transport in Liverpool Tourist attractions in Liverpool Canals opened in 2009